#you people are so gross and seem to have no regard for them as individual characters

[catgirl-kaiju]

something worth pointing out in the case of Tumblr CEO @photomatt 's statement regarding predstrogen is the very clear side stepping of the conversation being had. the ask he chose to respond to as part of his statement was asking about tumblr's transmisogyny problem, and what he is commenting on is tumblr's transphobia problem.

transmisogyny is certainly related to transphobia, but the two are not the same. i've seen plenty of trans folks who are guilty of transmisogyny and have even been harassed by such individuals on this very website. he repeatedly refers to transphobia and accusations of tumblr staff being transphobes throughout the statement, but never once brings up transmisogyny. perhaps he is unfamiliar with the term, but he could look it up and read up on it before responding to a question directly asking about it. he is very clearly not doing his due diligence in addressing these concerns.

he mentions tumblr having "LGBT+ including trans people on staff," but this is not especially helpful in assessing tumblr's transmisogyny problem. based on this we don't know how many trans people, whether or not there any transfem or TMA folks (who might understand the nature of transmisogyny better than TME people) on staff, what positions these queer people hold in the company, or whether or not any of tumblr's queer employees are on the moderation team. and it's understandable why some of these specifics are left out; you don't want to put any staff members in danger of being doxxed or harassed, especially if they're vulnerable marginalized people. however, it seems to me a gross oversight to not mention if there are any trans folks working on the moderation team.

i think it's also a huge misstep to focus on predstrogen so singularly when the conversation about her account being nuked is part of a larger conversation about transmisogyny. what this reveals, too, is transmisogyny playing an active role in the decision to ban her for life. one of the aspects of transmisogyny is viewing transfem folks as especially and uniquely dangerous. i'd like @photomatt to ask himself if he would have taken "threats" like the one cited as seriously if they came from a cis person or a TME trans person. really reflect on that, Matt. i also put "threat" in scare quotes here because, frankly, it's pretty clear that said comment is a cartoonish and outlandish example of violence used to demonstrate that the intent to harm is not literal. i do this all the time both on here and in real life. telling a friend i'm going to "maul them to death" over a minor annoyance is a comedic way of expressing frustration in a way that communicates it's not actually a big deal. saying something like "i want them to explode after falling down the stairs when trying to evade a falling piano full of knives" about a public figure or someone who is negatively affecting your life works as a way of demonstrating the intensity of your feelings while not veering into territory where it sounds like you're literally planning an assassination attempt. if you're reading this, Matt, i hope you can begin to understand the difference between something like:

and a real actual harassment, like:

y'know, all actual comments and posts i've received on this website, and reported with detailed explanations for why i'm reporting them but never heard back from the moderation team about the situation. i have no idea if anything was ever done about any of these people sending me bigoted violent messages because no one ever does follow-up. the only time i've ever received follow-up on a report was when i reported an account for promoting self-harm in the form of anorexia. that's it. one time in the over a decade i've been on this website.

how does all of this sit with you, Matt?

[ladyazurith]

You mentioned in one post that you think one problem with the game is that it twists itself into pretzels to fit the various different narratives, even when it doesn't make sense for the characters. Can you talk more about that? (Because I totally agree.)

Very much so! It's really bothersome. The first thing is in the individual chapters they tend to act like the students don't know each other well outside their own dorms, almost like they're practical strangers who have never interacted before. When everything else points to the opposite. Take Chapter 5 for example. They try to act like Ace and Deuce have no idea who Epel is, yet in Ace's CR story, he clearly meets Epel during their sorting. Never mind how they behave during events. And in chapter 2 when Cater is with Yuu and the others scoping out possible targets, it's presented like he doesn't know most of them well, when he clearly knows *everyone*.

Then from there, it's how the characters act in their individual chapters. Chapter 1 is mostly okay in this regard. Events with Riddle happen quickly enough that him having a major change of heart and acting "normal" in material from then on isn't too jarring.

But moving on from there it's a trainwreck. The chapter's overblot victims/ antagonists can get a little bit of a pass, but even then it stretches things.

Like Ruggie for instance, he is very shrewd and isn't above taking advantage of a situation. But he's not evil, he very clearly cares a lot about his home, his grandmother, and the other kids who live in the area with him. The idea that the character we see in every other situation would cause serious harm to someone else over a game is kind of ludicrous. He could have very easily risked expulsion if things had gone too far, and then he wouldn't be in a position to help *anyone*. Leona is even kind of iffy to me. While Leona tends to go out of his way to appear uncaring/unmotivated/lazy, he's actually an incredibly good dorm leader who cares about his students. Most of his real issues are internal, and harming innocent people who aren't even part of his beef with Malleus just seems out of character to me. Never mind what he does to Ruggie. Some of it can be explained by the build up of blot but not all of it.

And then Chapter 3, Azul, Jade, and Floyd. For the most part, I can see the tweels going along with everything because they both thrive on chaos. But Azul's plan is just...stupid coming from someone who's a professional businessman. First off he has no shortage of workers for the lounge. Ruggie frequently takes shifts there, and Cater while not a waiter also does a lot of work with them. But the whole sea anemone thing was just gross. And apparently, there was nothing in the contract about not disparaging their employer. It might have caused a spike in business at first just because people want to see what's going on for themselves, but overall, he'd ultimately hurt his business and drive customers *away*. Never mind the whole bullying backstory comes out of NOWHERE. Like I do have sympathy for Azul and what he went through and he is one of my favorite characters, but Ch 3 suffered from poor writing in my opinion. Narratively the whole thing was a mess.

Chapter 4 is handled better in my opinion. For the most part, I have the least amount of complaints about what goes on here. My biggest one though is what I mentioned before, Characters tend to exist in a bubble during their chapter events. You can not tell me that Cater nor Lilia wouldn't have tried to figure out what the hell was going on with Kalim. Or Silver for that matter. Never mind how Kalim had the authority to keep his entire dorm at school over a holiday when it's shut down?!!? I get his family is rich and powerful but, that still seems like a stretch idk.

Jamil I think was a least handled well otherwise, his actions and motivations seemed consistent with his character. In the end, he didn't really want to harm anyone, he just wanted his freedom and was desperate. The only real question is what did he think was going to happen next? Even if Kalim got kicked out of NRC then he would have only had about a year and a half of 'freedom' it wouldn't have solved any of his problems. And if Kalim had turned up dead, there would have still been severe repercussions for him and his family. IDK for someone who is supposed to be good at planning and scheming there definitely were parts that weren't well thought-out.

Chapter 5 and Rook is where this conversation started I think but I'll touch on it again. His actions at the end of chapter 5 are COMPLETELY out of character for what we know about him otherwise. Hiding his obsession with Neige from Vil, and then revealing it IN FRONT OF him while he's still licking his wounds from his overblot is just...if this was the only context we had for Rook, no one would be calling them friends. He had no real reason to reveal he was the one that cost them the competition.

The reception to this was so bad that's why we have the start of chapter 6 where Vil gives his speech about professionalism and why he's okay with Rook and what he did. I don't believe the narrative that Vil wasn't hurt at all, not with how he's shown to be so insecure especially where Neige is concerned. Sure I might buy the part about Rook voting for NRC not hurting him, but not the rest of it.

Never mind otherwise Rook isn't cruel. Especially not to Vil, and his actions were just that.

This is also biased, but the fact that Cater was cut from the team, and the reasons why rub me the wrong way. I know that they just wanted Jamil and Kalim because they were the previous chapter's focal point and Ace and Deuce because they're tied to pretty much everything because of Yuu and the story. But Vil keeps talking about being a professional, admitted straight up that Cater's audition was *perfect* but brushed him off and passed him over anyway. (Also Ironic because Cater's VA actually is a musician/singer/ensemble group member and not a traditional VA) but that's off course of the question lol

Also, I will never not be salty that RSA won with their song/performance. All for the narrative. And THEN they gave us a shot at seeing some kind of revenge or at least a win over them after the VDC with Epel's hometown event and yet again WE STILL LOST. I don't understand that one either. It's just frustrating for the players to be put in that situation again needlessly. There was no real narrative/story reason we had to lose.

Chapter 6 we finally get away from the narrative that the characters can't know who each other are in the main story at least -_-;. overall I don't have too many issues with Chapter 6. (other than the mini games -_-) Idia's character is kept consistent. We get some fun moments from the cast, and for the most part its in line with what we know of them and their characters. Azul and Riddle are gold, Jamil needed to hear what Leona told them. (tho it was a little pot kettle but then again that meant that Leona knew what he was talking about). And over all things don't seem AS forced. Had hoped things were gonna get better.

Then Chapter 7 rolled around and they murdered Lilia's character. The character we knew would NEVER treat his family like that. He even gives Malleus a speech in Cater's Halloween SSR about how he'll always be there when he needs him. He's consistently been shown to value his family and connections. It was just such a drastic change I am still baffled. I understand why he would be leaving, but to not really talk to those around him or explain what's going on and make an effort to keep in touch and stay in their lives? It's absurd. Of course Silver and Malleus broke down, if in high school my dad basically told me he was dying and that he was going far away and I'd never see him again, I'd have lost it too, and I'm not nearly as close to my dad as they were to Lilia.

I know they needed something to trigger Malleus's overblot but again this just seems like poor writing to me. The idea of Lilia loosing his powers and possibly dying I think would have been enough if they'd framed it right to push Malleus over the edge. That's difficult /emotional enough and they wouldn't have had to completely destroy Lilia's characterization to make it work. They could have even had the scene with Silver and Malleus when SIlver breaks down crying in front of him after trying to stay strong in front of Lilia so as not to worry him.

I'm trying to reserve too much judgment until we see the entirety of chapter 7 but unless there is some unknown reason for Lilia to have chosen this method of leaving, I don't know how to really justify it.

I get sometimes characters have to make difficult choices it is what helps make a story interesting, but if those choices arise from conflict that's not framed well or meaningful, it loses its potency. It comes across like us as the players and the characters themselves being cheated.

[arcadekitten]

Talking about mareggie, my boundaries, and similar things!

Since this seems to be a persistant and at times prevalent issue within my ask box, it seems like a good idea to make a post addressing the questions and concerns brought up to me regarding these. I hope this will help clear up any confusion and also allow me to refer back to it whenever these questions/concerns reappear. Eventually this will be added to my FAQ when I am able to, but for now this post will have to suffice in the meantime!

---

“I don’t like mareggie or any dynamic involving stalking / obsession and it makes me uncomfortable!” A) Completely alright of you to be uncomfortable, I understand. I try to be inclusive of peoples traumas and put in general warnings in my games of these aforementioned themes. However I do ask you understand that as an autistic individual my special interest lies in the complicated dynamics of my ocs--particularly mareggie being my main special interest of nearly a decade--so my games are going to continue to have these themes regardless if you’re comfortable by them or not. If you know these themes will hurt you, please disengage, block, and curate your online experience. While I’m grateful for everyone’s continued support, I make games that I personally want to put into the world. Please be mindful of this and use your best judgement when interacting with not just my work, but every media you find.

“If you’re alright with stalking and obsessive dynamics then why aren’t you okay with fans of your games making fan content with other dark themes such as incest and pedophilia?” A) My general rule is if I don’t cover a particular dark theme in my own game I wouldn’t want to see anyone in the wild using those themes with my own creations. Exploring one’s trauma of these particular themes in fiction is completely fine on one’s own terms, but I have nothing substantial to add about making fiction of these topics myself. It’s way beyond the mature ratings my games already have and quite frankly I’m just grossed out by depictions of incest and grooming/pedophilia. When I’m ignorant of the nuances of these subjects and grossed out by it, I try to discourage it from it being themes my fans use in fan work, because I also want to avoid re-traumatizing victims of these crimes--some of whom are my friends. I can’t stop anybody from using my creations for these means; everyone’s a person with free will. But I’m allowed to feel hurt and violated if people use this free will to go against my wishes because they just felt entitled to, and feel like defying me is 'sticking it to the man' or whatever. I will not ever change my mind on this, so be aware me directing you to this is your one and final warning. Further pestering will result in blocking.

Lastly,

“Well everyone online is going to be scumbags anyway at some point, so why don’t you just accept that people will do this with your ocs?”

[midnightsun-if]

I’ve gotten a couple more asks in my inbox since the previous one last night that caused everything— I hesitate to call any of this discourse because I don’t want to sound dramatic— but I’d like to make this all-in-one post, that’ll be going in the FAQ, to settle this. Hopefully, I won’t get too harsh, and I apologize in advance if I do, or if I sound angry/annoyed, I’m just trying to stand firm, as I’ve previously mentioned, when it comes to this topic.

I’ll put the entirety of this underneath the cut— as I don’t wish to subject people who don’t wish to read it to the long post.

(I’ve shared screenshots beneath the cut… So, warning to anyone who may not like to see those when regarding this topic.)

I’d like to begin this by stating that I’m only annoyed, or somewhat vexed rather, with the ones that actually sent me these asks— I’m well aware a good majority of them are trolls, at least I hope, but I still felt like this would be a good time to simply collect them, make a one-and-done post, and then (hopefully) move on from this subject. As I’m, and I’m sure all of you, are tired of this topic— especially since it seems like a fairly cut and dry one to understand in the grand scheme of things.

Now I’d also like to say if you’d like to send me questions about expanding on Scarlett and/or Koda’s sexuality— what it means to them, why I decided to go that route, etc— you absolutely can! I’m more than happy answering them (though I may not be able to answer everything given spoilers). I’m not barring anyone from sending me anything, not that I truly could as free will doesn’t work like that, but I do hope this makes at least a couple people get the answers they need before sending in something. (And even if you do and need something explained a bit more? That’s completely fine!)

Onto the more gritty stuff…

Scarlett, and I’m mainly going to be mentioning her as this has been directed solely at her, but it also applies to Koda as well, is not a character simply for you all to romance, to have sex with, to be arm candy, etc. I’m well aware that’s not how the majority of people view her, but I thought I’d specify that regardless. She’s a character because of her own impact within the world, because of her own nuances, because of who she is… She works just as well as an RO as she does anything else. Am I excited about exploring her romance route? Absolutely. But, I’m even more excited about exploring Scarlett herself— backstory, personality, motivations, etc.

At the end of the day?

She’s Scarlett first before she’s the MCs anything.

Below are a couple of asks that I’ve received on this topic (older):

I saved these when I first got them because I was truly baffled by them and wanted to show my friend to see if I should do anything about it (just decided to delete them)…

Again, I’m aware these are more than likely nothing more than trolls, but I’ve gotten at least a dozen of asks ranging around this topic, that I’ve deleted because I didn’t think it’d become this much of an issue that I’d have to address in this manner, and I’d like to say to anyone that may think you can do this: No, you can’t.

Scarlett is a lesbian. I get that may disappoint some people, but there are seven other characters to choose from when it comes to romance. As I’ve mentioned before— Scarlett wouldn’t be Scarlett anymore if I decided to just make her romanceable for everyone. At that point there would’ve been no point to change her from the original character I had designed to fill her “slot” in the RO Cast.

Again, this isn’t everyone and I bet this isn’t even the vast majority of the individuals that are actually disappointed by Scarlett not being for everyone.

As for making Koda for F!MCs instead? Why would I do that? Barring the fact that he’s gay? Why do your potential problems with not being able to romance Scarlett suddenly outweigh the problems that F!MCs would go through by suddenly having that option torn away? It’s gross to even suggest doing something like that.

Below is one of the most recent asks that I’ve screenshotted to showcase what I mean in general:

I’m aware that I’d probably get some more readers if Scarlett would be accessible to everyone, but I truly don’t get this notion that Scarlett is somehow the supreme RO above all the others. I adore her, adore her route and character, but the others offer things too! They have their own special nuances that Scarlett doesn’t (just like it’s the same for her too). Not even going to comment on the interesting RO comment, as I feel like that’s intentional baiting (more so than the rest of this message).

I also wouldn’t want to cheapen my own characters, as well as the experiences you all can get with them, for more attention— I’m happy with the readers that I have right now. If I get more? Great! If I don’t? That’s also completely fine too. Because, at the end of the day, I know that I’m making the story and characters that I know I’ll enjoy making and that you all would enjoy reading.

Why not just let them?

Probably because Scarlett’s sexuality actually means something? More than simply keeping her from all of you? Like a lot of individuals seem to assume (a lot referring to the ones that sent these types of asks in)… Again, Scarlett isn’t a character just for you to get your rocks off. If you can’t respect that, how the hell would you ever actually respect her? And if you can’t even garner that basic amount, why would I ever let you romance her? (Not that I’d ever change my mind. Scarlett is staying exactly as she’s meant to be.)

I apologize if I’ve turned off readers from Midnight Sun because of this post, but I’ve been wanting to get this off my chest as this all started building up. I truly do appreciate all of you— and I can sympathize with the people that get a bit disappointed at finding out Scarlett isn’t for them: I.E. me with Miranda Lawson— but that doesn’t mean I’m going to change an integral part of who Scarlett is, pretty much taking out a chunk of what makes her Scarlett to begin with…

I’m sorry if I come off as overly harsh in this, but I hope I’ve been able to make my points firm and clear. Scarlett, and Koda, are staying as they’re designed right now— nothing, and no one, is going to change that.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[captain-crowfish]

And here's a rant about how the Mormon church perceives people with autism (this can include other forms of neurodivergency)

In heaven, regardless of which level of heaven you end up in, your body is now perfect. Any "imperfections" (I.E. maybe your ears are slightly asymmetrical, or you have a floating rib, or a permanent scar from an injury) are now erased. This also includes people who are physically disabled or transgender.

Now, that in of itself is kind of gross, even if the Mormons think their intentions are good; you're perfect before you go to Earth and after physical death you return to heaven all the same. Never mind if somebody altered their body enough to feel more comfortable in it or learned to love themselves in spite of their disability, that's all gone now.

And regarding the main reason why I'm typing this in the first place: what about people who are born disabled or neurodivergent?

My younger brother is on the autism spectrum, and it's easy to tell even from a glance. At the moment of typing this he's in high school now, even though cognitively he is on par with a toddler. He absolutely cannot and should not be left alone unsupervised and has put his own life in danger multiple times within the past two years without being able to comprehend why.

I've been told that when we see each other in heaven after we die, he won't be Autistic at all. He'll act like any neurotypical individual.

And he'll say to our family "Thank you for treating me with kindness."

Now, before I go on any further I feel as though it is necessary for me to express that I do not reject the concept of an after-life or even a "before-life" entirely, merely I (perhaps naively) cling on to the core religous beliefs of heaven and being kind to everyone and always having some omnipotent genderless deity because I find them comforting. I have slipped into several pits of existential fear throughout my life and at the moment I don't see myself becoming a full-on atheist.

Back to the subject at hand, "Thank you for treating me with kindness." Rubs me VERY much the wrong way.

For starters, my brother (still) does not fully understand the concepts of right and wrong. That's the simplest way of putting it. I don't think he understands most forms of discipline (the only way that's seemed to work aside from yelling at him and making him sob and scream is making him write out "I will not put water in the soap dispenser" multiple times. He knows that if he does that action again, he will have to write more sentences. And he doesn't like it.

To further elaborate, he never acts maliciously (even though it's hard to tell sometimes.). He never has done anything "bad" with the intention of making anyone pissed off. And when my parents do discipline him to the point of meltdown, nearly every time it's in regards to his own safety or something that will greatly inconvenience them, literally or emotionally.

People should not be shamed for their first, gut-instinct, emotional response. If my parents do yell at him, usually they try to explain to him in a more comforting way later. Which he still gets upset by.

Do you start to see where I'm going with this? We try to be as nice to him as we possibly, humanly can even while being under constant stress from his tendency to be unpredictable, and he reacts as though, and I'm only saying this for the sake of making a comparison, like somebody smashed his electronics out of pure spite.

Secondly, Mormons believe we experience earthly life so we have the ability to make choices. The implications of that sentence alone are kind of terrifying but that's not the point I'm trying to make here. My point is, why would you choose to be born like this? When somebody's mental or physical capabilities are limited to any extent, so much that you often can't make the choices you want to make because of those setbacks, why would you voluntarily sign up just to be a morality check for other people?

Thirdly, and this co-insides with my second point, how do you think it feels when somebody who is, for lack of a better term, cognitive enough to comprehend all this is told that their existence is, according to the plan of salvation, nothing than a morality check? Another one of God's tests?

You sit in your darkened bedroom on a bleak Sunday night and realize what the church truly thinks about you for the first time. Your autism diagnosis denies you any agency of your own, and yet you're "normal enough" to still understand and experience choice, consequence and autonomy on nearly the same level that Neurotypical people have. And now you catch yourself wishing you weren't cognitive enough to realize the full extent of this horribly flawed design. You wish you were more like your brother.

I am you. You want to know what I feel when I fully realize the extent of living as nothing more than a morality check? I feel angry. I feel betrayed. I feel WORTHLESS. I feel horrified that this could be a big factor as to why my parents refuse to ever take me seriously until I've collapsed on the floor. Literally, this has happened more than once.

Fourth (yes, Oh God, there's more.) The plan of salvation also illustrates that, before we are born, we choose our families, our parents specifically. And that's another very icky implication/rhetoric that can be (and most likely has been) used to keep family members in abusive situations.

In case I haven't made it clear already, I am also on the autism spectrum. I can't list off everything that means for me all at once, but I have trouble detecting sarcasm and I am extremely bothered by loud, unexpected noises.

Now, something I think more people should understand, (especially my parents) is that disability accommodations are not a one-size-fits-all plan, nor will they ever be. I saw a great post on this website once that said something along the lines of "the same flashing lights on a fire alarm that are used to alert deaf people might give someone else an epileptic seizure." And that helped me come to learn more about the severity of a situation that has been plaguing me almost my entire life.

My brother, being Autistic, often Stims. Either as a way to express/filter excitement or as a form of self-regulation.

Very SUDDENLY and LOUDLY.

and those two adjectives together used to describe any sound are noises that I cannot fucking stand.

And as much as my parents think otherwise, I'm not TRYING to PURPOSEFULLY stop him from expressing/filtering excitement or self regulating. My first GUT REACTION is to tell him to be quiet, right after feeling an enormous amount of discomfort. I never hurt him in any way because I WANT to, but because my overstimulation is firing on all cylinders and 'telling me' that I HAVE to. It is never entirely a conscious decision for me to react in the ways that my parents disapprove of because they are "not nice."

My dad swears up and down that this is a behavior that I can unlearn. It's been 6 or so years of him telling me that and it's only made me afraid of him, too. Because he refuses to see the situation from my actual perspective.

And of course, every summer my brother is home from school, and every summer I realize more and more how on edge I really feel, and how my parents have been the real root cause of my CPTSD the whole fucking time.

So back to the subject of heaven, if my before-earthly-life heavenly self, in all my divine-ish wisdom, looked at my parents and saw in the future how much they would disregard me, why the FUCK did I choose them?

And if my brother, being his before-earthly-life heavenly self, in all his divine-ish wisdom, looked at my parents and me and saw in the future how much I would suffer and how much we would all be torn apart because of his existence, WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY did he choose to live with us, when my suffering is not voluntary?

So, to conclude, In terms of how much my parents are doing in terms of the walking, talking morality tests, they're flunking HARD when it comes to me. I'm not surprised that they don't even fucking realize it.

When it comes to my brother, I can only guess that he thinks he's suffering, but my parents are doing their best to accommodate his needs (and absolutely none of mine). Who determines the final score? My brother or God?

Of course, given the same logic, apparently I'm being scored on my involuntary reactions to my brother's behavior. And I'd be going to hell. We're here on Earth to make choices and I choose to suffer as little as I possibly can (which isn't fucking saying much.) And because I APPARENTLY have the choice to feel discomfort or not, therefore I'm making poor decisions and deserve damnation for the same fucking reason I was put on this Earth.

Mormons, do you want to elaborate on all this? Is there anything you could possibly say to my face besides "God and heaven work in mysterious ways." FUCK this. FUCK you and your views on autism. FUCK my parents and FUCK your Mormon Jesus with the European complexion.

My life is hell.

[merakiui]

omg i loved the discord mod idia post !!! he's so slimy [like the meddling tweels hehe] but he tries so hard 😔😔 and omg the tags?? depraved discord mod azul?? can we pls hear your thoughts on him :oo

(also i hope you're doing well!!! :D)

Discord mod Idia is so gross and slimy, but we love him. <3

Now as for discord mod Azul!!!!

(cw: yandere, nsfw, unhealthy behaviors/relationship, obsession, implied kidnapping)

Outside of being a mod, he’s actually really successful. He either runs an entire corporation or he has a high-paying position at one. You probably work alongside him. Maybe he’s a coworker you occasionally talk brief business with when you happen to find yourself in the elevator with him, or you meet at the ground floor coffee shop just below the company’s floors. You’d never expect he’s the mod you’re in an online relationship with. You’d never expect that this silver-tongued, pressed suit-wearing individual is a filthy Magicord mod in private, who you met in a server designed like a deep-sea lounge after breaking a few rules and he’d so kindly decided to spare you.

This person who is absolutely ruthless when it comes to climbing the social ladder and annihilating any competition is the same one who texts you day and night, referring to you as his precious angelfish, his beloved pearl, his sweet siren. The man who stole that promotion from you—who proceeded to pat you on the back with a consoling smile that jeered ‘better luck next time’ when you fretted over the news—is the exact man who spends absurd amounts of money on you, who listened to you touch yourself while whispering filthy things into the mic during a heated VC, who tells you of everything he wishes to do with you when the two of you finally meet.

You don’t even know his real name and he doesn’t know yours either, and you certainly have no idea that he’s that annoying coworker you hate with a passion. He calls himself Sea Witch on Magicord, which is fitting for the server’s marine theme. It’s actually a very cozy place! Lots of people hang out in VCs, it’s organized into labeled sections, and it’s got very good security measures. There’s a vice-mod who’s simply named J and another (not truly a mod but he claims he has mod abilities) user who goes by all sorts of names. It’s always changing. Just last week he was sneakerluvr42069 and now he’s tastykoebi. You haven’t had many exchanges with either of them, but it seems like they know Sea Witch well. Either way, the connection doesn’t mean much to you. You’re just glad he’s so willing to buy you anything and everything you ask for.

You once tried to dig a little deeper—to find out just who Sea Witch is. When you asked him what he looked like, he’d simply turned the question on you. You rarely send him photos of yourself, but when you do they’re usually explicit (most are of you in the lingerie and other outfits he buys you) and your face isn’t shown. He thinks you have a very desirable body. You’d like to see his, but he’s always evasive with any questions regarding who he is behind the Sea Witch mask. He must have a cushy job if he’s able to spend large amounts on you. When questioned about that, he just joked about how having a tongue of silver helps. You wonder what that truly means.

Beyond Sea Witch, Azul is actually surprisingly normal on the surface. He has his eccentricities, but most of these are hidden behind a disarming persona. He drapes himself in finery: golds and silvers, luxury brands, expensive colognes—typical rich normie stuff according to Idia. Azul hates going out in public. He hates having to smile and act kind at the office. He hates his coworkers. He hates having to put in so much effort just to look a certain way. He’d prefer to spend his time inside, reading, watching TV, messaging his angelfish. He loves his days off the most because he’s free to be as introverted as he wants without having to act. It’s just him, the comforting confines of his home, oversized pajamas, and a day free of responsibilities.

Azul usually spends these days talking to you, and when you aren’t available he’s taking up new hobbies with you in mind. He’s started tending to houseplants after you mentioned it briefly during one of your conversations. He’s also trying to get into miniature cooking because you sent him a compilation video of it and he wants to impress you with his talents. And he’s always browsing erotic sites to find the toys that fit your preferences. He wonders how you’d look in handcuffs, in cosplay, in collars and blindfolds. Most of all, he wonders how you’d look with his tentacles wrapped around you.

Azul doesn’t send you many pictures of his real life. He fears you might try to pry again and he doesn’t want that. It’s much better if you love Sea Witch instead of Azul. Sea Witch is mysterious, cool, unique, attractive. Azul is…Azul. He’s not very good at romance. He’s not very good with confidence, but Sea Witch is. Azul can act all he wants, but it’s impossible to feel happy with himself no matter what he does. When he’s Sea Witch, he can spin all sorts of tales without having to attach his appearance to any of it. You can love him for his money, his sense of humor, his taste in aesthetics, and he’ll never have to show you his face! Of course there are days when Azul peers at himself in the mirror and is struck with a sudden surge of confidence and he considers sending a spontaneous selfie or, Great Seven forbid, a dick pic. Really, he has so much class and a dick pic is just not the path he wishes to travel. Besides, scanty images are what you do best, not him. He’d much rather admire the artwork than become it himself.

Plus, when the two of you meet and he decides to keep you, you’ll get to see it in person. Surely that’s better than some grainy photograph. It’d look much nicer inside you, a good, snug fit. :)

To say Azul likes you would be a very big understatement. He’s infatuated, so much that he often messages you whenever he has the chance. You’re the first thing he thinks of when he wakes and the last thing he considers when falling asleep. He’s even taken to talking to you during work hours, his phone brightness dimmed to prevent any nosy onlookers from glimpsing his private exchanges. He realizes that texting and occasionally voice calling isn’t enough. He really wants to meet you in person. He wants to touch you, kiss you, hold you. He’s certain you’ll want that, too.

Azul just needs to finalize what remains of a secret space within his home. It’s just temporary, as all pain often is, and you won’t have to stay there forever if you can promise to be good for him. He’s always had this little fantasy, and it’s only grown with each passing day. In it, he’s married to you and you wait diligently for him to come home from work and you’re clawing at him for affection the minute he steps through the door. In it, you’re nothing without him. You crave his love, his touch, his dick. You kiss him all over, breathless and sloppy, as if he might vanish from your sight if you can’t pin him down with enough saccharine smooches. You always tell him how much you adore him, how you’ll always be here for him, how you’d never think of leaving him. Aside from the happenings of sweet, fluffy love, the two of you fuck on every piece of furniture, in every room, against every surface. He always cums inside. You always hold him close and praise him and tell him his dick is big and you love it and you love him and… It’s a really good fantasy! He’s working so hard to make it a reality.

And in this perfect dream of his, he’s all you’ll ever need. This one is important! You don’t need anyone else. You’ll only need him. You don’t need friends or family. You don’t need to work. He’ll give you a comfortable life that’s filled with affection.

So naturally Azul is livid when you message him saying you no longer wish to continue this relationship. You thank him for his time and everything he’s done for you, as courteous as ever, and then you unadd him. You wash your hands of him. You cast him aside. You leave his server, you stop contacting him, and you disappear. And his hearts—all three of them—shatter. Outside of Sea Witch, he’s lonely. He has no one who waits for him at home. He has no one who’ll cook him homemade meals, each made with love and care. He has no one who he can delight in married life with. He’s all alone.

Azul’s miserable. It’s hard to tell at work because he smiles through the suffering so that no one will suspect anything. He’s not sure what happened to his angelfish. Even Jade and Floyd were unable to contact you or find any traces of your user in other servers. He’s considered enlisting Idia’s help, but then that would mean he has to admit that he lost you. That he wasn’t able to retrieve you. That you’re drifting in a vast sea of people—of potential suitors! So he does what he does best: he thinks and he plans. He considers every plausible explanation, and within the month he’s arrived at many conclusions. Each is more frustrating than the last. He hates to think that you’d leave him for someone else. Honestly, what went wrong? What did he do incorrectly? Surely there was a part of him you found undesirable. Surely it’s his fault you left. There has to be a reason for all of this, but it’s been a month and there’s still no trace of you. His sanity is beginning to splinter.

When he hears a familiar name weeks later, his mind still in eternal mourning mode, he perks up at once. Someone’s talking about Sea Witch. Online dating. Uninstalling Magicord. Weird vibes. Wanting a face to face connection instead of something long-distance. Azul can’t believe his ears. Is this a coincidence? Is he just hearing things? Has he gone insane or has his angelfish always been this close?

You and the colleague you were talking to are gone before he can turn the corner and get a look at you. But hope is already sprouting within him. If what he heard is true—if you’re really his angelfish—then his life just got a lot better. He’ll find you, and when he does he’ll finally be back on track. He’ll finally get to begin his dream life with you.

And you’ll learn to love the man behind Sea Witch.

[archivalofsins]

Honestly, there's people all over within the Milgram fandom who just want to have fun when it comes to voting. I don't particularly understand how that aspect of Milgram is fun. To me, judging people isn't meant to be a fun thing to do or something that makes you feel good. Being critical of anything isn't meant to feel good all the time. If it did for me, I'd personally wonder if I was actually thinking about the information presented.

The fun in it for me comes from considering that my beliefs may be flawed and questioning where those beliefs came from. That's not always fun, and it's not always comfortable. It's definitely not for those faint of heart. So, mindsets like that seem like blatant admissions that some just like judging people for the fun of it.

Which to each their own and I may get flack for saying this but that sort of way of looking at it is disgusting to me. Even more so when that judgment is negative and people are still like, this is so fun.

It's gross to think that people can get genuine enjoyment or pleasure from making others fictional or not circumstances worse. At least to me, it is, but maybe I'm just too sensitive.

So, I dislike seeing this sort of mindset even though Milgram lets anyone vote for any reason.

It certainly doesn't help that the individuals I've seen display this mindset complain about the outcomes of the judgments the most. Especially when it's not going their way or Milgram isn't presenting things the way they would like it to. It is soooo much whining when it gets to that point.

Then loosely tying the character that is getting criticism they don't agree with to the lowest hanging ethical or moral talking point and going but guys. To just straight talking crap about the series stating it's bad representation or writing and going well it's actually bad it confirmed this because.

Sorry, it's just so annoying sometimes. Personally, I believe if people are really just having fun and don't wish to think about it too deeply, then the result shouldn't matter. Because they've already had their fun through voting. People can't have their cake and eat it too. Once you eat it, it's gone. You have to get another one now. There are other cakes in the world you ate that one come on be mature. That was the old cake. This is the new cake you took part in baking it. You're getting what you put in.

I don't understand all the complaining I've heard about or seen in regards to the direction Milgram is taking in certain areas. Because to an extent, the direction it's taking is the result of the audience's input. So, when I take a step back and look at it as a story with the audience in mind. It's easy for me to see how what is occurring now and will occur later is a direct result of what the audience as a whole puts in.

Everyone is entitled to vote how they want to. Yet, no one is entitled to the outcome they assumed would happen if they voted that way. Because it isn't the audiences story. The audience is just a character within it impacting the narrative through their collective choice and reasoning.

Think of it like a choose your own adventure game or book. The choice you make ultimately can't change what has already been written planned or how the characters actually are. No one can force someone to be something they're not through their view of them.

Milgram just takes this concept a step further. People can vote based on any bias under the sun, as is everyone's right, but Milgram will judge the audience for those choices not just through the use of Es' character but everything else at the series disposal as well,

Something it has been doing since trial two,

"Don't weigh me measure me against your morality. Just shut it, will you? You know it all. Feeling magnanimous? INNOCENT? I'm so not that. Just shut it, will you? You know it all."

"Holler holler from safety, so worthless. The fights up here come up to the ring and face me."

"You and you throwing around rules for fun hoisting up morality and feeling good."

"So, it's wrong. Oh, shove that! INNOCENT isn't that right?"

"Victim and Perpetrator, let's keep it simple."

Milgram has actively and consistently taken shots at individuals who vote using surface level reasoning. To be completely honest from the translation choices the staff has actively made, it can come off as though the series itself is making fun of those people.

Purge March extending it further by having Amane sing,

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's the beginning of a most wonderful day. However, there are blasphemers and silent by-standers, who would have it otherwise."

Something that not only called attention to all the silent enablers in Amane's life who knew about the way she was being treated but chose to do nothing but those within the fandom who watch Milgram but do not vote. People who have seen what Amane has been through but are choosing to do nothing. Dragging a very under discussed topic to the forefront the concept that no choice is a choice. So, it can be viewed just as poorly as making a choice can. Because when good people stay quiet, bad things happen.

Milgram also judges the majority verdict through the voice dramas as well. So, it's a bit outlandish to me that some still believe the judgments they make within the series won't be met with judgment in return. Simply because Milgram has been stating from the beginning, they will be. Besides that, no one is entitled to the right to judge others while not being judged themselves.

People are what they eat. Not only when it comes to food but the media we consume, what we're willing to accept. All these things shape one's personal identity and morals. I've said it from the beginning, and I'll keep saying it. The way I vote reflects on me as a person more than it does on the prisoners.

As Yuno and Mu both aptly put it, the audience is choosing to judge people consistently in this way. They don't have to vote at all or even vote anyone Guilty. No one is putting a gun to anybody's head and forcing their hand. So, on some level, people who are stating I'm just doing it for fun are no better than the characters they are judging. Something Milgram highlights well through their use of Futa as a character and his second voice drama.

That and by consistently drawing attention back to the fact that what has or will occur will be a result of the audience's choice. Not shying away from the fact that said judgments can end up having consequences. By ultimately refusing to make this easier for anyone or coddle the audience. Then going even further to highlight how the audiences' choices, while a part of the problem, are not inherently bad, it's a human response to judge things that one is exposed to as bad or good. Making it clear that there is no perfect or completely balanced solution here through showcasing that not making a choice can cause just as much harm.

So, it will always be funny to me to see people who are committed to passing judgment on others balk at reflecting on and internally interrogating why those judgment exists within themselves. All while still continuing to tentatively use their very personal morals and ethics to defend that choice and deflect criticism of it. This is just my "very' personal opinion, but this sort of thinking just shows off the blatant lack of compassion people be it large groups or individuals show when they believe or know there will be no tangible consequences to their actions for themselves.

Emphasis on the for themselves part. Because others do end up paying for their displays of ignorance and lack of consideration. These other people wind up getting taxed for their deluded and reckless displays by having to face mistreatment and abuse for these people's words or lack thereof them.

I know not only because I've seen it happen in real life numerous times but have personally had it happen to me within this fandom. I have been bothered over my opinions and the way I analyze this content. I've had people disregard my personal lived experiences and have been vagued about in every possible way. At this point, it comes with the territory. Recently, with the upcoming trial of Mikoto, I've begun having people make speculative and baseless claims about my mental health history.

Which,

A. Isn't any of their fucking business.

B. I do not have to disclose.

C. The act of doing this once again says more about these individuals than it ever will about me.

And most importantly

D. Has actively made me want to vote Mikoto guilty despite not voting on him the first time now just to get back at these fucking people. Because they've been that much of a fucking nuisance.

I'm starting to understand why he was so guilty before, and it seems like it's of no fault of his own. This is gonna be a surprise to read and probably get me more shit but I am petty enough to vote a character I like guilty simply because these individuals pissed me off. I can vote for any reason. It doesn't need to be helpful, I don't need to use logic, and I don't have to have empathy. I don't even have to give a fuck about my own feelings on the character.

I could vote this man guilty simply because Amane's verdict isn't going well. Nobody has to continue to be the bigger fucking person when they're continually being bothered and disrespected. I can simply vote to spite these people.

This is ultimately why I don't care about how people vote or how they discuss it. Because what goes around comes around. I don't give a damn what people do for fun to each their own. However, when that fun is at the expense of myself yeah I'm going to have a fucking problem. In this case, sadly, it has reached that point. I like hearing opinions outside of my own a great deal.

Honestly, though, if anyone is just voting based on surface level reasons such as it's fun. Like just fucking say that instead of tying it to morals that don't exist. If it's not that deep for these individuals, then they shouldn't play like it is. It's just performative nonsense as the people actually facing the consequences of the things these individuals jokingly espouse go overlooked.

I think Milgram itself handles this aspect of the fandom nicely because it's openly disdainful about it as well. Something I do appreciate simply because it highlights how while I may respect an individual's right to their opinion, I do not have any duty to love the way said individual expresses that opinion and I especially do not have to enjoy how said opinion ends up negatively impacting me.

Milgram is hellbent on teaching the audience that even the smallest action has consequences. So, if anyone is doing this just to have a good time or because they think judging people is fun and don't want that behavior interrogated. Milgram may just end up biting those sorts in the ass. Like Jackalope said, this isn't meant to be easy.

At the same time, having people carelessly vote this way is definitely going to make for interesting writing developments trial 3. Simple solutions always cause complex issues. In this Innocent (Forgiven), Guilty (Not Forgiven), or no choice system, there isn't really a right answer, just the answer individuals come to.

All that to say I'm petty as hell and fuck everybody voting Amane Guilty actually. If these last two are Innocent while she's Guilty again I am going to fucking break something. If that something is my consideration of other people's right to their personal decisions and my own desire to remain civil, so be it.

I'm simply not going to continue providing something to others that is not provided to me. If people have an issue with that mindset, well, it is what it is. Do what you gotta do. I'm just trying to enjoy something in a way I find enjoyable, something a lot of people should understand. I'm just trying to have fun. It doesn't have to be that deep, everybody.

The way I discuss these things is fun to me. If it's not fun to see, then people don't have to see it or discuss me publicly at all. Minding one's own fucking business is one hundred percent free. Take a bit on the way out if you so choose to.

[purple-plum-petals]

Hello! If not a bother, I'd like to request a TWST matchup (either platonic or romantic is fine). I enjoy writing a lot (particularly darker content). I love theater and the natural world a lot (to the point my entire family and all my friends are now giving me animal- and marine based presents lol), perhaps it's the 'tism, but I find it so fascinating and beautiful, every creature is just a lovable little guy to me, and the way every plant, fungi, and cell work together to create the world we know, is incredible.

I have been told that the traits I find loveable aren't universally shared, such as when I find it cute that snails can have thousands of teeth. But I just find it hard not to marvel at all these things.

I'm very patient, and while things often fly over my head, and I struggle to read people, I try very hard to understand everyone around me, as a result, I tend to not judge people, instead getting to know them, and I value communication highly, as I am not good at guessing or intuitively knowing.

I do tend to get a bit lost in my own head and interests though, and tend to spend a lot of time alone, being quite introverted - so sometimes I might need a reminder to actually interact, but I'm working on it.

Thank you for sending in a match-up; I think that either Rook Hunt or Silver would be good matches for you!

I was actually debating between Silver and Jade, but ultimately, I picked Silver for your match-up since I think with Jade you would need to be good at guessing how he's feeling since he's not open and honest about himself in that regard. He would be a great person to talk to about your interests and hobbies, though, considering he loves fungi and is literally a merman haha.

Rook loves that you, too, appreciate theatre as it's something he does as well. He'd also love to read your stories if you were willing to share them with him as he doesn't mind consuming a darker story every now and again. Rook is also quite the outdoorsman, so he would love to accompany you if you want to take a hike or venture out into the wilderness. Rook is also someone who can understand your awe at the beauty of the world, even such small and seemingly minuscule things such as how cells function, and he does so without any judgement; he's honestly very supportive of you and your interests and would happily sit and listen to you talk about them all day every day if he were able to. Rook would also relate to your ability to find traits or facts universally deemed as being weird or gross to be cute instead; he, too, sees the beauty in the "strange" and "unconventional." He's also understanding of your need for alone time and space, but he's also the kind of person who will happily give you reminders to get out and socialize; Rook won't overstep your boundaries, but he's there to give you a push if you need it.

Silver has an almost supernatural ability to draw animals of every variety to him so if you ever wanted to see a specific animal up close and personal, Silver would be happy to make your dreams a reality as he somehow seems to communicate with the animals without ever uttering a single word. Silver is also, much like you, a very patient individual who also has a difficult time reading others. Unlike some of the other students at Night Raven College, Silver is always open to communicate with you about how he's feeling or how you're feeling in regard to your relationship, and he always does so calmly and kindly with no judgement. He also understands and respects your need to be alone given your introverted nature and will gladly give you space if you need it as all you need to do is tell him. Thankfully, though, being with Silver doesn't take as much social battery as it may with other people. You two spend a lot of your time together alone in silence, Silver usually sleeping while you focus on learning or reading about the things you are passionate about.

[teaveetamer]

While I wouldn’t outright call it “social media colonialism” either… I think I can see other anon’s point.

The Edelgard community is at home in their subreddit and their Discord server. Clearly, both platforms and the Edelgard subcommjnities in them, have a culture that is different from Tumblr’s, both of because how the websites work and because of the internal works of this communities itself.

Clearly, they have been attempting to establish a presence on Tumblr as well over the past years, to varying degrees of success (they mostly only interact with each other and seem to look down on other users, judging by various comments in the Discord server as well as publicly on Tumblr itself). Which would be absolutely fine, them as individuals wanting to interact with more people who like Edelgard. I mean, she does have fans on here as well. The thing is, it’s not that. It clearly seems to be a community effort (supported by the fact how they mostly interact amongst themselves) and they very clearly do not want to be here — at least, judging by the more or less frequent complaints about Tumblr, its userbase, and the blatant disregard of Tumblr culture, tagging only being one example.

Yes, Tumblr can be very different from other social media sites. I’m not saying newcomers immediately have to adapt it, or to adapt it fully at all. However, it’s been years at this point, and the Edelgang is still doing this shit, still looking down on the platform and its users (and expressing that), at most regarding them as pawns to assimilate into their own space.

While it might not outright be colonialism, the mindset of it (and by extension, religious mission) is absolutely there (which is kinda ironic due to the hate boner these folks have against a fictional religion).

Oh I 100% understand their meaning, I just want to be precise with the language. Personally I describe it more like… they “Christopher Columbus’d” Tumblr/transformative fan spaces. They showed up late to the party to a community/culture that was already well established, then act surprised when the people present don’t automatically drop to their knees and treat them like kings and saviors and immediately bow to their will. Which is… nothing new unfortunately. IMO they’re doing what straight men have historically always done to spaces (primarily) women and queer folk have built. They mock and deride the spaces (if they’re even aware of them at all) as being worthless, deviant, gross, or a waste of time, but the moment they have tangible value they move in and basically say “alright sweetheart thanks for keeping this warm for us, but now that I’m here you can stop pretending like you can make something and let me lead”.

And it’s frustrating because that ALWAYS means that the people who were already there get pushed to the margins or pushed out entirely, because no one sees the value in them. Just in what they built. I think it is VERY telling that people in their community who actively used Tumblr tried to teach them how to integrate into the culture more smoothly and they basically told them to go fuck themselves.

Believe it or not we LIKE tumblr and the way it works. If we wanted to use a space that worked like Reddit then we would just go use Reddit. So no we don’t appreciate them marching in and basically demanding we all treat this like Reddit and engage in Reddit Culture on Tumblr. And trust me I’ve used Reddit for a lot longer than I’ve used Tumblr, and I’ve used Tumblr for a long time now. I know what this looks like.

[esther-dot]

Hiii! Do you ever see GoT writers, actors or even D&D confessing their plan of Jonsa or the reason Jonsa parallel Ned&Cat and even Jaime&Cersei? Something in the line of: okay, this was the plan but we changed our minds because X. That would give me soooo much peace. The foreshadowing and parallels were so obvious it makes me anxious when I remember the real ending.... even if they never get together. But what happens in between.

I would love an explanation too! I sometimes try to put myself in D&D's shoes and imagine what their platonic explanation could be for all the parallels/contrasts they created for Jonsa, and I actually think that the Cersei and Jaime connections would be the easiest to rationalize, but the fact that they also paralleled them with Braime is what makes it seem like it wasn't just a healthy sibling duo in contrast to Cersei/Jaime, it wasn't just about showing us the difference between Cersei and Sansa as leaders, it felt romantic! Especially as that convo carried through to the ending, Jon and Jaime were being paralleled and juxtaposed, both choosing their sisters over someone else, but Jaime choosing his "evil queen," Jon rejecting his, which means, you can't say it was accidental, they were intentionally doing that in s7-8.

Obviously, in the books the NedCat 2.0 idea will be a thing, we've already gotten comments about Jon and Sansa individually looking like the og, so D&D inserting that with the redux of NedCat scenes, ok, not necessarily romantic, maybe just a nod to the books, maybe they overdid it, but their motives were pure. Except, they included the choking LF scene. Jealously, rage, desire to kill. Sure, of course, LF deserved it, but then they also had Sansa be angry and jealous in s8, and again, there are platonic explanations for some of it, but it crosses the line, particularly in the feast scene. At that point it feels like it's more, something else.

(And let's not even talk about the parallels with Robb and Talisa, Sam x Gilly, or Gendrya.)

But will they ever tell us anything? Well, let's say TWOW comes out in a year or two and Jonsa is a thing in the books. We absolutely would have the entire fanbase revisiting Jonsa's odd chemistry in the show and rethinking things, and I bet, yeah, we'd finally get a reporter who would ask a useful question regarding the Jonsa scenes. Or, say Kit goes for it in Jon's spin-off, we'd definitely get some new insight into the acting choices he made in s6-8.

Absent of that, I can't imagine getting confirmation? Mainly because, it's not just an unpopular ship, it's hated. Dany stans, Targ stans, Jon stans, I saw all of them taking comfort in the midst of their rage and grief that at least Jonsa didn't happen. Any hint that show Jonsa in some form was real is probably the only thing that would make people hate the last season/finale more. Considering how disgusting our fandom is (they harassed child actors because they hated the characters they played, they ship the actors with other actors, bully them off social media, stalk them...) I don't see the upside of bringing it up and there is a big downside.

If they had the cover of Martin's books or a new show, D&D could say they didn't do it because it was weird but here's how they hinted at it or Kit could say it grossed him out but he tried to subtly include it. Presented that way, people could be sympathetic to them, not blame them, so I could see that. But if they just announced, "Yep, Jon had Targy feelings for Sansa," I don’t think people would take it well!

[icaruskeyartist]

Hey I think you were a person I've seen dissect Serano's work pointing out the negative things said about trans mascs. I came across this post and while this quote seems positive toward trans mascs, stuff earlier in the article don't seem great but I'm worried I'm just hanging onto biases from her earlier work. Do you have thoughts?

https://at.tumblr.com/asterosian/704465315608870913/k1dj12qys9u7

Oof okay I have to admit I'm very biased against her, so reading this will be a challenge (also thanks, I think this is the kick I need to get back to reading Whipping Girl, knowing she's got another book out that may pertain to trans masculinity).

I'm gonna pull out some quotes from her article I feel pertinent to touch on, whether in agreement or not. This is gonna be long.

tl;dr She's still minimizing trans masculine issues, throwing AFAB folks under the bus, utilizing POC for her own end when she can, and is a hypocrite within the same page. And nonbinary folk don't exist.

So yeah, the coat of paint is new, but it doesn't really feel like her attitude towards nonbinary and masculine people have changed. And she tries to relabel rad fems as cultural fems. Which... no. Cultural feminism afaik has a totally different connotation now with lib fem than whatever it was in the 80's.

 Some of the insights that I uncover in Sexed Up are pertinent to the aforementioned “perpetually male privileged” claims levied against trans women. In addition, they also shed light onto why bisexual women are analogously dismissed as “perpetually heterosexual privileged” in some of these same settings.

But men aren't also dismissed as heterosexually privileged if they're bi/pan/aro/ace? This is speculative, but I do thing that there are probably a lot more bisexual men out there who don't know because they've been taught to reject their attraction towards men their entire lives... not unlike how women are taught the same but women are also more encouraged to be in touch with their emotions. Men aren't.

This is a nitpick admittedly. Of course she's gonna focus on women, like how I focus on men. But idk, if I was actually writing for a general audience, I'd want to be as even-handed as possible.

 I will also consider how said purity politics underlie recent debates between trans female/feminine and trans male/masculine communities.

Color me unexcited.

In Sexed Up, I discuss all these various forms of sexualization in depth and detail how they play out with regards to specific marginalized groups (e.g., people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ people, amongst others).

I'm highlighting this mostly because of my experience with Whipping Girl is ringing eerily similar to this article. Mainly in that Serano likes to reference work I don't have access to and just assumes she is right.

I'm thinking specifically on her assertations on Navajo gender identities and saying they are trans feminine actually (or something similar) and her source was like... another college educated white person who just so happened to be a dude. It's why I want to eventually go through my notes and read all her sources and do an annotated version of her book.

I just really don't trust her with identities outside of her own is what I'm saying. Maybe she's changed, but I don't have access to her new book atm, just this article (sorry I might read her other article she linked at the top later but not right now).

As an example, falsely smearing a marginalized individual as a “slut,” or “pervert,” or “faggot,” or “predator,” or “groomer” typically has little to do with finding them attractive and/or wanting to use them sexually, but has everything to do with invoking sexual stigma in order to defame, humiliate, or ostracize them.

I don't disagree with this bit. Though I'd throw off the word little because we can't know what's going on in someone's mind. It can be a complex mixture of it all in a gross, confusing slurry of unexpressed emotion.

This imagined “sexual corruption” is especially acute for minority women: If a billboard ad featured a white, cisgender, thin, able-bodied woman wearing a sexy outfit, many passersby wouldn’t even notice it, but if the model were Black, or transgender, or fat, or disabled, or some combination thereof, it might strike them as “sexually inappropriate.”

A really more straightforward example would've been porn stars. Actresses (esp white actresses) who have fucked black men tend to have lower prices attached to their work afterwards. I wish I remembered where I read that so I could link to it, but it's been awhile. And for me I think it makes sense logically. She's "corrupted" herself with another race or w/e. Stupid blatant racism but a very obvious example.

Even more obvious: the amount of women who get devalued for having an only fans and how their SO's are treated.

And if a person intentionally hurts or humiliates another person, we often call them a “dick.”

What does this have to do with penises being imbued with metaphysical powers in society?

While penises, and those who are attached to them, are not stigmatized themselves, they do seem to possess the ability to impart sexual stigma upon others. [Sexed Up, p. 164]

Once again, Serano cuts her own nose to spite her face. She tries to be even-handed while focusing on women, but as soon as she quotes her own work (hence the italics) we can see her laying down the blanket statement again.

Men are stigmatized for having sex. It's just not in the same way women are. And it's different depending on the specific sub-culture you're in. Sub-culture specifically because Serano, despite her claims otherwise, I will not believe is capable of looking past the US. That's my bias.

While a significant number of women commit acts of sexual violence, people tend to view these incidents as less serious and less harmful than similar acts committed by men — this is likely due to the imagined “lack of penis” required to initiate sex and to bestow sexual stigma upon the victim.

Oh good, I was worried she wouldn't talk about women committing acts of sexual violence.

For starters, gender and sexual minorities are often viewed as “sexually deviant” or “sexually deceptive” for our failure to comply with Predator/Prey’s roles and rules. As a result, people may view us as “marked by sex” — imbued with sexual stigma that others may fear they might “catch” from us, potentially being “turned queer” themselves in the process. 

I don't disagree again. It's a bit thing, and I think part of that fear in some people is actually repressed sexual or romantic or gender specific identities. It's scary to be confronted with something you thought was a fact but might not be... and for a lot of those people, if they soul searched they'd find themselves happy with their identity as it is.

Anyway a good recent example of what Serano is talking about here is ROGD --- rapid onset gender dysphoria. The thing that people claim is turning all the girls trans.

It also explains why so-called “lesbian porn” made by and for straight men is not considered threatening. This genre typically portrays two women kissing and fondling one another, but the “real sex” doesn’t start until the male protagonist shows up (with his penis) to pronounce “can I join you ladies?”

What the fuck porn are you watching Serano? When I look up lesbian porn, the only dicks involved are strap ons. And this isn't like. Specialty stuff. It's fucking free on pornhub and xnxx.

I realize I'm outing where I watch porn here but whatever. One day I can afford to pay decently.

Okay then there's some talk about how for bi men they're seen as gay and bi women as straight (nb/agender people not invited), some gold star lesbianism and how penises are seen as corrupting. Glad she's pointing out the penis hatred in lesbian circles (rad fems called out? nice).

Hm then something about how bi women in relationships with other women are uniquely targeted with heterosexual privilege which just doesn't smell right to me but I can't put my finger on why.

when people start wielding terms like “privilege” (or “socialization”) in non-nuanced ways — and especially when they frame these as perpetual statuses that are impervious to change — the concern they are raising has little (if anything) to do with actual oppression or marginalization.

Really Serano? Where's the "doubt" meme because

Go read the full thing here; it's infuriating. Basically, she's saying the rise in the use of TME/TMA as rigid labels is because trans male and masculine folks are upset that they're so overlooked and are pushing back on the fact trans women actually get highlight even in issues that uniquely affect us (the amount of times I heard people complaining trans women don't need ObGyn visits so why are we trying to bring up trans people...)

Also the bs that AFAB trans people highlighting the F in their AGAB means that trans women must also highlight the M in their AGAB... like Serano if that was true and we need to coin flip this bitch all the time, well, why do your adherents hate the term transandrophobia so much?*

*this is actually a lot more nuanced and if prompted, I'll go into a deeper dive on why one group trying to emphasize their marginalized status a certain way doesn't mean the coin flip group has to mimic their behavior in any way but not right now. But if you want to hear my thoughts, I beg you, send me an ask. I'll Go Off.

And in my experience, lesbians who are suspicious of trans women are usually suspicious of bi+ women as well, and vice versa. 

Name. Them. They're rad fems Serano. It won't hurt you to admit it.

Okay, she goes on a thing about cultural feminism. I'll bookmark that to read later I think. It's already 1:30. I've spent 30 minutes reading and responding after spending an hour trying to dethaw my lock to get inside after work.

Most radical feminists were careful to identify the male role rather than maleness as the problem. 

This is a quote pulled from the article Serano links about cultural feminism. I hate to tell Serano this (I don't) but this... things have fucking changed since the 1980's. Radical feminists now very much blame men for the problem, not just their maleness. That's why there's so much overlap with TERFS! They're literally rad ems!!!

Serano then goes on to talk about how they call themselves radical feminists and thus TERFs and it's like... what distinction are you trying to make here? This is worthless except to make me angry!

Cultural feminists sometimes collaborate with social conservatives and the far-right on certain issues — most notably, their anti-trans, anti-pornography, and anti-sex-work positions.

I don't understand her resistance to calling them radfems. They are radical feminists. Even if in the 1980's it was something different, it's been 40 fucking years. We didn't have smartphones or accessible cellphones back in the 80's. Get with the fucking program.

Blah blah stuff we already recognize about how radfems see trans women as inherently predatory and dangerous because they got penises. Nobody I know argues against that.

Okay yes, here we are talking about trans men.

Cultural feminist views of trans male/masculine people are more complex and varied. 

Yep, this is why we should have our own word, to better discuss these complexities separate from mere misogyny or transmisogyny. There's an inherent overlap with being once seen as a woman/girl and "choosing" to become more masculine, whether you're actually nonbinary or fully male.

Gender traitors, lesbians escaping the patriarchy, groomed by TRAs. Check, check, check. Irreversible Damage, oh that's an easy ---

And who is supposedly doing this “seducing”? Trans female/feminine people, of course. 

Do you here the tires of my brain screeching? I'm shocked my ears aren't bleeding. They actually popped. Just. Holy shit, the presumption.

What about ROGD Serano? The thing Irreversible Damage is about? The thing that "spreads" across "girl" groups? "AFAB" groups? Where are the trans women in this Serano? Do you want my ears to pop?

Okay, okay, five minutes and I've calmed down. I'll let Serano finish.

Another “gender critical” author, Kathleen Stock, has remarked that, “The autogynephilia tail is wagging the puberty-blocking dog,” adding that, “many of the loudest (partly because male) voices policing critical discussion of the treatment of ‘trans’ kids barely disguise their autogynephilia.”

Oh, so one other TERF author blamed it on the trans women. So because of that, you ignored other sources talking about it spreading across "girl" groups. As in AFAB. As in not trans women. Okay. My jaw does not hurt from clenching right now.

In their imaginations, “transgender” is a “sexually deviant and predatory man,” and “children” are conceptualized as safe, pure, and vulnerable “girls” who are in danger of being “corrupted” by a “male-borne” sexual “contagion.” It’s Predator/Prey thinking writ large.

Yeah, I wonder why the general public only think trans women exist (general public, not the public with young trans people coming out as their sons or daughters). It doesn't have anything to do with your hyper-visibility that trans men were complaining about and you defended those trying to shut them up with TME labels despite it going against what you wrote in this very article???

Here’s another way of framing this “gender critical”/cultural feminist perspective: Trans female/feminine people are viewed as inherently “contaminating” (we “corrupt” those we come into contact with), whereas trans male/masculine people are viewed as merely “contaminated” (i.e., they’ve been “corrupted” by someone else). As a result, the latter may be “redeemable,” at least to some extent or in certain cases. 

The emphasis (bold) is mine.

And here's the crux of my issue with Serano. She absolutely refuses to let go of the idea that trans women are not the most oppressed actually and there's a lot of give and take where sometimes trans women as a group might come out on top. Not that it matters in the long run because it all washes out compared to the cis world around us but she won't even entertain the idea. She has to make sure that we know that trans men and masculine people (in her view, AFAB people) aren't as oppressed as trans women/feminine people (in her view, AMAB people). And her putting masculine/male doesn't erase her total lack of a nonbinary perspective.

Cultural feminists also tend to view trans male/masculine people as relatively “safe” given that they are supposedly “innately female” and “lacking” the organ that imparts sexual stigma (and perpetrates sexual violence) upon other people.

This went with the above quote. I'm just pulling it out to show how she treats transandrophobia like its a good thing/privilege (but god forbid trans men act like trans women's visibility is a privilege because there's so many drawbacks---yeah like there is for being seen as "safe").

On the trans male/masculine spectrum, there can be a similar temptation to appease cultural feminists’ notions of “purity” and “safeness.” 

She also looks down on trans women who emphasize their post op status btw. She just really does not like hyper feminine trans women (see my videos where she complains about movies with hyper femme trans women), and she does not like trans men not entirely divorcing themselves from their AGAB. How dare we I guess?

Sorry that I was born and raised a girl and I still see my younger self as a girl. I'm not you Serano. I'm not going to act like my growth as a trans person is a model for everyone else and thus invalidate all nonbinary identities.

Whether intentional or not, these sorts of appeals tend to reinforce the idea that AMAB people (such as trans women and trans femmes) are indeed “dangerous” and should be excluded. 

Talking about trans men "playing up the F in AFAB" to access women spaces. Please someone send me an ask about this specifically so I have an excuse to go off tomorrow after work.

At the start of this essay, I brought up “recent debates between trans female/feminine and trans male/masculine communities.”

Okay awesome I'm ready. I'm not reading the linked article tonight, maybe I will if asked, but for now it's 2 AM.

So suffice it to say that some of the disagreements I’ve seen seem to stem from this imagined AFAB “vulnerability” and “safeness,” and imagined AMAB “contamination” and “dangerousness.”

Emphasis (bold) mine.

Imagined vulnerability.

Serano making me throw up in my mouth at 2 AM.

And as usual, it’s the supposedly “contaminated” group (in this case, trans female/feminine people) who gets accused of being “oppressive” in some way or other. 

Sure am glad that she chose not to go into specifics! Give us concrete examples please!

On more than one occasion, I have seen trans male/masculine people of color point out that this notion of “inherent AFAB safeness” is not generally extended to them.

But, notably, not the vulnerability. Just want to point that out. Trans MOC are just as vulnerable if not more so by fact of being men of color. White women hold so much power over them in public spaces.

It should be clear by this point that we must purge these cultural radical feminist frameworks from our minds. 

Fixed that for you. Stop trying to label them something new.

When you embrace the fact that the world sees you as “dirty” and “contaminated,” you make different art, and you gravitate toward different forms of activism.

I'm still not following links outside the article, but I don't disagree with this statement. You'll be seeing some of my own work related to this later next year.

'Being a freak] made me suspicious of appeals to “purity” and “safety” (after all, what feels “safe” to some people may in fact be “dangerous” to others). 

Would it surprise you Serano I have trouble feeling safe around women?

She also stops on the different art after talking about how in your face her poetry used to be. This is something else I really want someone to send me an ask about. I'm begging you.

[soursturniolo]

hi! I really want to write this fic I have an idea for but it involves the reader being drunk/tipsy. I’m a minor and have never really done any of that stuff, so I have no experience to help me write it. You’re an older fan so I’m assuming you’ve maybe drank or smoked and I was wondering if you could share experience or give some pointers?? I’d love u foreverrrr

Hi friend! Yes I can for sure do that to help you out. But first, our favorite, ✨disclaimers✨

1. I don’t condone underage drinking or smoking. Don’t let people pressure you into that shit. Don’t feel like you have to do that stuff to “fit in” or “be cool”. You can have just as much fun at a party or event sober as you can under the influence. And speaking from experience, I mean that wholeheartedly. Just last week I was the DD at a get together and I had just as much fun as my bestie who drank a margarita the size of her head.

2. People all have different experiences to substances, so I can only tell you of my personal experiences and some that I’ve witnessed.

3. Of age, or not if you choose because it’s your life and your choice at the end of the day, if you choose to drink or do other things, please be safe. Know for certain what you’re putting in your body. Be in a safe place with safe individuals you trust. If things go south, even if it means getting in trouble, get help. You’d rather be in a bit of trouble but alive, than in danger.

4. If you’re prescribed meds by a doctor, consider talking to them about what you take and how it interacts with things!! Some meds and alcohol don’t mix well.

OKAY so now that responsible adult Kay has given their spiel of advice and disclaimers, some notes about my experience….

In regards to being tipsy/drunk

- being drunk doesn’t make me, or most people in my experience, into totally different people. Some people get sleepy, some get relaxed, some get really giggly and funny, some get loud, some get quiet, some people are easily irritated, it really just depends I guess?

- being drunk doesn’t get rid of your moral compass. sure, it may make you a bit more carefree and willing to do or say things sober you would probably think twice about. BUT, I’m still me, I’m still in control, I can still make my own choices, I still know what I’m okay with and not okay with, yknow what I mean?

- people have different tolerances to alcohol. experience and your body (metabolism, weight, ect.) play into this. For example, as a nearly 24 year old who has been drinking on occasion for the past 4ish years, my tolerance is decent. It takes me about 6 shots of stronger stuff for me to really feel buzzed. And for me, beers have never done anything for me, so I stick to liquor and I know others who are the same. But, I also know some people who have been drinking much longer than me and they’re basically stumbling around after smelling a bottle cap, so… it all depends really

- hangovers are a thing I only experienced once, on my 22nd birthday after REALLY overdoing it. I just overall felt really gross the next day. I had a nasty headache and was nauseous for hours the next day. That’s my only experience with that. Something I have noticed is that it seems like most younger people don’t really struggle with hangovers unless they REALLY overdo it. As you get older, it becomes more common it seems.

About being high (weed only- that’s my only experience, I’ve never done anything else nor do I want to)

- so with this, I’ve only ever smoked a handful of times, as it’s not something I really enjoy doing, so I don’t have as much to tell you tbh, but I’ll tell you what I can.

- it was just really relaxing? Like my anxiety was nonexistent when I was high fr.

- i got really hungry about an hour after.

- it made my mouth EXTREMELY dry, which was not enjoyable

Hope this helps with your fic, bestie!!

[astarionbae]

I guess it’s my turn to make a post regarding Maddie’s and their apology post, if THAT’S what you really want to call it. Shortened version of the long and incredibly gaslighting post, they explain that their mental health was the reason why they acted how they did and cast themselves as a victim without actually taking accountability for what they did. 

Plenty of us on here, in the oc community, have bad days and horrible mental health issues, but you never see us give into those urges and weaponize it against people. Especially ones who have their own problems and are forced to drop them in the sakes for Maddie. 

A majority of us who’ve been friends of theirs are getting angry and upset all over again, and it’s because we have accepted what happened and moved on together as a family. But now? We get this half-assed excuse for all the hurt Maddie had caused us with incoherent thoughts and we weren't given individual apologies for other things that they have done. It was solely based on OC Theft, Gatekeeping OC Ideas, and pretending to be two different people on Tumblr to receive gifts in giveaways or exchanges. 

However this is what their post had forgotten to mention: (+sensitive topics & receipts)

Expressing how they wanted to S*lf H*rm themselves on a daily and constant basis in the Discord because they had a terrible day at work which made many of us stay up late, trying to help them only for them to vanish halfway through conversation and pop up the next day in the server to act as if nothing ever happened

In regards to the previous point, Maddie constantly made us in the Discord group responsible for their mental health by telling us that we were the only ones that were grounding them from h*rting themselves and had us constantly checking up on them to make sure they were okay. 

Created a divide among the users in my own Discord Server and tried to make it their own. 

On top of that they chose who they wanted to associate with and once that was settled, it was as if you weren’t able to speak with anyone else in the group. (Five other members, not including me, felt this way as well as we spoke after the incident)

Members in the server felt uncomfortable that they couldn’t express themselves in fear that Maddie would be angry with them! (p1) (p2) 

Maddie never gave credit to edit(s) that were based off or inspired by others, and once you tried to ask them to tag the creator of the original post, their excuse was always, “Oh, I was already working on this type of edit, it’s just been in my drafts for a  long time and just now got around to posting it.” 

According to several users, myself included, we had bad experiences with Maddie that in normal conversation, they could always speak about things they disliked that we loved but the moment that we spoke about something we disliked that they loved, they’d shut down the friendliness and become passive aggressive.

^ one of the many receipts can be seen here (p1) (p2)

Maddie would toss traumatic events into character backstories without giving it the level of consideration that it really needed. Not handling it properly nor respectively, just using them as fodder just to make a character seem tragic. Which is really gross for people who actually have dealt with such things. 

Piggybacking off that ^, all of their age-gaped oc ships that they’ve created for no reason other than to make others uncomfortable and to ‘express” their own trauma.

They had over 10 (TEN) ships with age gaps, and the one that felt the most predatory was their 13 year old GOT OC (FC: Mackenzie Foy) and Robb Stark (Richard Madden). They literally used Mackenzie content from when she was only 17 when when Richard was 27. 

They would also tell everyone to tag triggering themes for their tumblr posts so they could be filtered out for them but almost never tagged their own posts that held such themes. Hypocrisy at it’s finest, kids! 

That inconsiderate and disgusting remark that they made about my late friend and oc creator Lizzie. Something I’ll never forgive Maddie for, but still deserve an actual apology for because shit that was NOT okay! (If you need a reminder, here)

There was much more but those are the main things that should’ve been discussed in that post. As I said many of us who had been friends of Maddie’s, actually no—Not even friends. Friends wouldn’t do that. We were mascots; the cheerleaders. We became their outlet and sole dependency on happiness, amusement, friendship, acceptance, and dare I say, likeability. 

We were manipulated, gaslighted, guilt-tripped, and gatekept all for their benefit. Period. 

Reader, if you happen to share this post with Maddie, be my guest! Or want to be a hateful anon and send me hateful messages, fire away! Your damage won’t measure up to what Maddie had caused me and my friends for years. 

Maddie’s apology wasn’t an apology, it was just a massive text to say “Hey, this happened” and ended with “I can’t undo what has been done because I was in a bad place”. 

We aren’t fooled by it: (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) 

To end this post, I’d like to post a message that was sent through my Discord last month, September 1st, 2022. Forty-two days before Maddie came back to Tumblr and posted. 

This is where we’re all at, and this is where we’re going to stay. 

[gunsli-01]

You know I don't want to make it feel like certain people shouldn't be able to vote or make theories but-

Then don't it is entirely that easy to leave people alone whose actions are not negatively affecting you. It is immensely easier than pretending to wish to avoid conflict while directly walking into it. It is even easier to show empathy and create a welcoming fandom space for people regardless of how they choose to interact with the source material. There is an endless wealth of people who will share your views and the same number of people who will not. There are so many ways to illustrate a point without creating a strawman out of others who enjoy the same thing as you do but in a way you personally find objectionable.

There is no reason to create an us vs. them mentality over these things. It's contributing to a very polarizing and negative atmosphere, and I know half of the people in this fandom are fully capable of elaborating on their points and defending their favorites without partaking in this sort of extremist behavior. Everyone should be able to vote, make theories, and have their own opinions on what exactly is going on. Saying otherwise will just lead to people growing disdainful of something they used to enjoy. If you don't like how someone else enjoys a thing then it's far easier and more enriching to work on your own expression/vocalization of your enjoyment than cut others down and try to tell them how they should express themselves.

Since trial 4 started, the Milgram fandom has gotten incredibly oppressive. It's about time people took a step back and thought about how their actions and statements in the real-world impact real people instead of concerning themselves with the wellbeing of fictional characters.

Also, if anyone wants to come at me for bringing up racial aspects regarding Milgram before stating this as a source of polarization and discomfort. It's completely fair for those aspects to be uncomfortable for some to unpack. It's also uncomfortable for me to discuss and to see overtake a fandom space I was actually comfortable within. This ties in heavily to my think about how your wording affects real people because by displaying such behavior, even in a joking way, it shows that this community is an unsafe place for certain minorities.

It has led to me debating if Milgram is something I should continue to be interested in as someone who has to face many isms and phobias in their real life. It's a hassle to write up why that isn't okay and how off-putting it can come off as.

Especially when a good deal of the vocal individuals in this community will just go x prisoner is cute, which means nothing they do can be wrong ever and regardless of if I disagree with their actions, I'll vote them Innocent on that alone or worse defend the action all together. It's uncomfortable, it's gross, and it makes the Milgram fandom unsafe to interact with and a franchise I would sooner tell individuals with similar circumstances to mine to stay away from than to watch. It's not surprising given the history individuals of color, especially black/brown people have with fandom spaces. Not even delving into Asian media specifically, but it certainly doesn't get any less annoying to deal with or see.

If that's the type of atmosphere fans of this series wish to create which at this point seems to be the case, congrats. However, if not, some reevaluation may be necessary to avoid these issues continuing to crop up. It would also be very telling if Mu's case is the only one where this issue arises, and the rest of the cases are smooth sailing.

It's not difficult to take into consideration all the clearly race related things. The stop the woke left nonsense, jokes about doctoring tapes, head canons of Mu's victim being half black, discussions around Mu's victim deserving to get stabbed and theories that despite Mu's victim being killed outside the victim attacked Mu with a chair in the classroom all being attached to Mu's case and think man wonder how the writer will spin this one not well regardless of verdict more than likely.

[onthemerits]

okay im getting a little overwhelmed by the jegulus discourse (tm) surrounding the strike but i need to rant abt something tangential (and that seems to be going unsaid) so here goes:

there needs to be a more productive conversation about how adults and minors can interact respectfully and safely in shared spaces, particularly with regards to different forms of queer generational trauma and internalized biases (read: transphobia).

this is really long so the full essay is below the cut, but

TLDR: if you're sending trans people messages telling them that writing about sexuality wrt their own identities and lived experience is "perverse", "weird", "gross", "predatory", or "pedophilic", pls check yourself and think about why you feel uncomfy before proceeding

(also if you feel the need to harass/send hate to people on behalf of unnamed "others" or for "safety reasons", odds are you're the problem)

CW: discussions of transphobia (specifically kink/ hyper-sexualization and accusations of predatory behavior) teen pregnancy, grooming, age-gap relationships,

first, i want to state the obvious and say that adults and minors are in very different stages of life. as much as this may offend some underage people, adults have more lived experience and have had more time to process their internalized biases and phobias. they have had both the freedom and responsibility of adulthood. and this brings new revelations and understandings.

this does not necessarily mean that adults are necessarily phobia or bias-free point blank, but it does mean that there are a lot of things that would understandably make minors uncomfortable (even as woke as they are) simply because they have not had exposure to those things. and on the flipside, minors should not be blamed or bullied by adults for their discomfort.

with all this in mind, it is the responsibility of adults to create adult-only spaces and for minors be mindful of what they could be exposing themselves to when they enter those spaces. a lot of the discussion around "no post november" seems to pit tumblr (old hp fans) against twitter and tiktok (newer, younger hp fans).

i've seen a bunch of arguments that "minors dni" and "tags" don't take away from the fact that "offensive" content exists, specifically in the case of underage relationships and sex (often with content that is deemed pedophilic).

i empathize with this immensely, and i understand why the idea of an adult sexualizing you would feel uncomfortable. but i think it's important to note that thats not what's really happening.

if someone is writing a sexual relationship between two minors that isn't flagged with the hallmarks/abuse of age-gap relationships, then there isn't any real danger to minors reading it. if there is no grooming going on, if there is no glorification of age gaps, if there isn't an infantilization of one of the characters, then there's no real predatory behavior that would have a marked impact on a minor.

even if there there was a depiction of an age gap and an artistic depiction of predatory behavior, if the story is marked as for adults then writing and posting the story is not predatory behavior and it doesnt make the author a pedophile. for all you know, they could be processing trauma that they underwent as a teenager and is now creating art for other adults to share their experiences.

it is not fair to compare this to the fetishization of lesbians or gay men (which does exist in this fandom) because unlike straight cis women readying gay smut, we have all been minors at one point, and that experiences comes with a lot of trauma, especially for queer individuals who grew up before queer rights gained popular traction.

on the love of all that is holy and unholy, i beg of you to think before you call something disgusting, especially if it is created in a space that is not meant for you.

in this case, i am thinking very explicitly about discussions of trans sexuality in the fandom. anyone who has been on ao3 can see that smut, explicit adult content, and mild sexual content are a big part of the online space across all ships. Dramione and Drarry have some of the filthiest (non-derogatory) content I have seen in my entire life. much of it is written by people who have been actively involved in the harry potter community since the early 2000s, and are therefore older than 20, and a good chunk of it is written about 17-year olds.

however, as soon as things like pregnancy, trans sexuality, or any combination of the two are brought up, it's "fetishization" no matter what the context. im not here to defend or attack the mpreg tag (especially in other explicitly kink-related contexts), but trans sexuality and explicit content that is trans focused (specifically ftm) is not inherently kinky or fetishization. there are so many things that are fetishized by the world (trans people tend to be in that bucket) but that does not mean writing those things is inherently fetish-related. in fact, calling it "fetishization" reinforces that idea that trans people cannot exist sexually without being reduced to a kink.

this is further perpetuated by the fact that cis (and occasionally straight, re jily and pregnancy) underage sexual content is only ever given a slap on the wrist. (and also this is extremely fucked up when u think abt how some fics reduce women in the fandom to plot points-- thinking of "lily is only relevant to birth harry" fics)

in fact, the double standard is so enormous re all the girlies that want self-insert fics with their gay favs. the straight-up obsession with cis mlm ships that straight women in this fandom seem to have is something that largely goes unspoken about. but we don't cancel people for writing self-insert fics or check to make sure female authors are queer before they write mlm sex scenes.

(there are a few cases where trans regulus seems to be flagged as a self insert for cis women which is transphobic and fetishization in and of itself, but i promise you that the likelihood of this being written by a trans person is 0.00001%)

this is all to say that attacking trans authors for writing about trans sexuality and trans versions of experiences that are "cishet" is transphobic. but how does this come back to minors?

well, there is a long history of queer individuals (trans people specifically) being called pedophiles or predators for expressing their lived experiences and discussing sexuality that deviates from the norm. while most people in the marauders fandom are comfortable and content with cis queer "sexual deviancy," there seems to be more contention around trans queer "sexual deviancy." it can be seen as inherently "problematic" or "predatory," even when it is just trans people writing about their own lived experiences.

obviously not all trans people are perfect, not all queer people are perfect, and predatory behavior exists from people of all genders and sexualities blah blah blah disclaimer disclaimer.

and in all seriousness if someone feels genuinely unsafe and specifically targeted in online spaces, please speak out. this is an attempt to alleviate harassment, not silence people who are being groomed by strangers online.

but it feels like everyone is so quick to call out "problematic" in an attempt to distance themselves from JKR that you're just coming back around to doing her work for her

(this is very terfy, "anti-trans for safety reasons" behavior)

(also this is just me feeling attacked but if you come at queer adult marauders fans for being "harry potter adults" (derogatory) when you're in the same fandom, pls stop)

*if you disagree with this and what i'm saying, feel free to send me a respectful, preferably non-anon message*

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

To Mod: Besides the obvious characters like Mikan,Chisa,Mukuro,Mahiru and Hajime being poorly written. We also have:

-Juzo who knew Junko was guilt but didn't want to say anything because he'd be outed by his best friend. Which was dumb because the world was at stake.

- Teruteru who canonically interacted with Seiko off screen who makes god-like medicine. But the writers have him requesting aphrodisiacs from her instead of a cure for his mother. Just so they can have that gross soup scene.

-Hiyoko spiking everyone's food, you'd figured she wouldn't do that because Mahiru would be affected by the drugged soup but nope. This scene caused people to hate Teruteru even more.

-Doing absolutely nothing with the rest of Chiaki's classmates.

-Hope's Peak expelling three innocent people because of Nagito commiting terrorism with explosives.

//I'll touch on each point individually here.

It's not like what happened with Juzo doesn't make complete sense. It's still dumb, but I understand why Juzo was so reluctant. He wasn't necessarily afraid that the world would judge him for being gay, more so he was afraid Munakata would reject him. Juzo dedicated his life to Munakata in a similar way that Mukuro and Kuripa do to Makoto in Survivor. If Munakata had any reason to ostracise Juzo, Juzo then has nothing to live for. Still though, it was incredibly selfish and didn't do Juzo himself any favors. It ultimately just highlights how incredibly selfish he is, and how he's the pinnacle of how low Ultimate's can sink. Especially given how much shit he gave Hajime and the reserve course earlier in the arc, and then ends up succumbing to his own weakness, just as Hajime did before him. It goes to show that Ultimate's and normal people aren't as different as Juzo and most of the Hope's Peak denizens seem to think. In that regard, it's subtly genius, but the way it's actually carried out is a bit messy.

Yeah, the whole thing with Teruteru is a massive plot hole. You have someone who is capable of curing any disease right next to you, someone who is driven by a strong will to help people, but your dick is somehow more important to you. Not only is it a drastic oversight, but it ultimately degrades Teruteru's character, and removes the one thing that makes him a redeemable and honest man. His love for his family in the main games is so genuine, he is willing to kill a person in order to go home and help them. And whether you like Teruteru or not, if you're close with your family, no doubt you can understand his position. I don't think it's a matter of on purposefully trying to make Teruteru seem worse and more perverted, because it seems to me more like a bit of an oversight; like they sort of forgot about that plot point. The way I cover it in Survivor is with Teruteru saying either he didn't want to bother Seiko, or his mother wasn't too bad at the time, but I'm just reaching; trying to fill a plot hole that the writers made.

I don't understand why people damn Teruteru for that scene, because that CLEARLY wasn't his fault. Besides, I'd like to point out that he was honest about the "doping" with his classmates, and actually ASKED them if they wanted the added flavor. He was disappointed when they said no, but he's NOT the one at fault there. This also brings up another thing that I thought was a bit problematic, but Hiyoko and Mahiru's relationship in DR3 is HORRIFICALLY unexplored. Based on all the info in DR2 and DR3, it's heavily implied that they were just as close in the real world as they were in the Killing Game, but in every scene of DR3 where Mahiru is struggling mentally, Hiyoko is NOWHERE. Hell, the same can be said about Mikan and Ibuki. It's an important plot point in DR2 that they were involved in the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, but when it happens in DR3, not only do we not see the damn altercation, but they aren't involved in any way, shape or form. I get that it's because they wanted to put more of a focus on Mahiru and Sato, which is the most important thing, but to wayside Mahiru's already established friends is just poor writing. You'd think they'd be by her side throughout all of it, but no. "We couldn't think of what to do for them, so we'll just not include them and fuck off."

Which ties in pretty heavily to this point of yes, the DR2 characters are STUPIDLY underused. Every moment they have in this show is poorly handled in some way, with the exception of a few episodes. They were good in Episode 1 and 2 of Despair Arc, and were great in Hope Side when they come to the Future Foundation's rescue. Aside from that, they get very few moments, and hardly any of them are good. The only members of the DR2 cast who get any sort of attention throughout most of DR3 are Hajime, Chiaki, Nagito and Imposter. And yes, they ARE the trifecta, and Imposter does need more screentime and characterization, but it's not fair on the rest of the group, who I will reiterate, are easily the most enjoyable, in-depth and interesting cast of ALL the games. They deserve better than what they got.

As much as I hate to admit it, and I know how this sounds, what happened with Nagito's attack, unfortunately, made total and complete sense. It is NO SECRET to anyone who knows how deep DR lore runs that Hope's Peak's steering committee was the true evil. Everything that was wrong with Hope's Peak that allowed Junko to take advantage of the system and destroy the world can be traced directly back to them. They cover up crimes, make poor decisions if it means protecting their school's reputation, and if things start looking bleak, they pin all the blame on Jin and Tengan. Seiko, Ruruka and Izayoi's expulsion, unfortunately, makes total sense, and it's one of the few things in Danganronpa 3 that actually DOES. The Steering Committee knew that there was more to the story and that this might have been the result of an accident. They probably knew that none of the three had actually done anything wrong. The reason why they were expelled is that it was the EASIEST possible out for THEM. After all, considering the exams at Hope's Peak were a public ordeal, it wouldn't be too hard to get an investigator in to find out the truth of the matter, but doing that risks exposing the other dark secrets that the Steering Committee tried to cover up. It was all too easy to pin the blame on Ruruka, Seiko, and Izayoi, and remove them permanently, to prevent their secrets from being outed and to preserve their reputation. Their reputation as an esteemed school, and their own personal goals took priority over everything else, and they didn't care who it hurt, especially not the three victims. This is also the reason why Nagito was only suspended as opposed to expelled as well. The reason he got off lightly is purely because of his talent. Hope's Peak were serious about researching luck, and given Nagito's insane bullshit abilities, he wasn't someone they were about to let go easily. The other three were sacrifices they could make. Nagito was not. It's not fair, and it doesn't make sense, but that's the POINT. This scene was one of the few things in DR3 that actually seemed thought through to me.

-Mod